


Chapter 9 : Special Snowflakes

by Myril_Chan



Series: DAO [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M, Wolf Pack, wolf - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:22:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27298600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myril_Chan/pseuds/Myril_Chan
Summary: First mission for Alistair & the warden, where they discover each others specificity.... And battle scenes against wolves & darkspawns of course !The idea behind my DAO serie is to write down what I imagine when I played the game to enrich my experience, especially concerning the relationships between the characters & especially my Mahariel/Alistair romance which happened to be way more complex that it seemed. So the main plot will basically be the real one, I just added some small side plots when needed.This serie is part of my whole fanfic which aims to tell the story of Alistair & warden from their childhood to DAI and maybe further...Comment & (constructive) critics are highly welcome to help me improve my writting.If you have a fanfic on the same themes : please let me know !
Relationships: Alistair/Female Mahariel (Dragon Age), Alistair/Female Warden (Dragon Age)
Series: DAO [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1964107





	1. Chapter 1

9 :30 – Korcari Wilds

“Wolves. Four or five maybe. “The elf stood up and prepared her bow.  
“We could try to avoid them, we’re not here to face wolves “. Said Daveth.

“Personally, I prefer to be ready “said Jory by drawing his sword.  
“Generally, I would have agreed with you, Daveth, but I ran into wolves recently on a land similar to this one. They don’t behave normally.(1) “  
“She is right “, said Alistair. “The taint of the darkspawns corrupts everything: men, earth, beasts. Tainted animals can even turn monstrous. Let’s be careful.”

These lands were dangerous. Ymlaïs was used to be in the wilderness, but this place didn’t seem right to her. Even in normal circumstances, the place must have been inhospitable. The ambient humidity emitted an unpleasant smell, mosquitoes were flying everywhere, the soil was treacherous, the trees were twisted and bare. How could anyone live here? Her people would never settle in such a place.

On top of that, she felt the “taint” that the Grey warden was talking about and that Duncan had already mentioned. Something in this landscape was not normal, like a decay at work. She held her hand to her necklace and felt the pulsation in the stone. Conjuring the wolf(2) would be a valuable help and a reassuring presence at her side. What if she tried again?

“Ma Hal’…” -She hesitated, remembering the presence of the three shemlens.  
“Uh, gentlemen… It may surprise you.” She backed up and focused on the pulsation. “Ma Halani.”  
In a magical flash, the grey wolf materialized before her. It had worked!

The three humans leaped back in a single bound. Alistair stood guard, Daveth fell backwards, and Jory intended to attack. The elf intervened: "Stop, he is with me!". Still on the ground, Daveth pointed at the animal with a frightened grin. “What is this … Thing?

“That’s… My friend”. The elf replied.  
“But where did he come from?” Jory asked with a frightened look, the sword still high.  
“The Necklace, I think.(2)”

The wolf joined the elf who knelt down to caress him.  
“He is… Real?” Alistair asked, intrigued.  
“Yes.”  
“Is it magical?”

“This is…obvious.”  
“How does it work?”  
“No idea. Ancient elven magic. I summon it with the stone, it just works.” She shrugged.  
“Did it ever occurred to you that you might be summoning a demon?” replied the grey warden reproachfully.

“I don’t know”. Answered the elf sharply as she got up. “If the demons come to your hepl at your request, fight alongside you and then leave wisely after a while : then it is one. A very useful demon.”  
“A demon is always useful to the one who invokes its power. Before it turns it against his so-called master. By using a magic you can’t control, you’re putting us all at risk of…”

At that moment the wolf grumbled and leaped forward. Jory resumed his guard and again pretended to attack but the wolf only pass by him quickly.  
"The wolves!"

Alistair looked back and saw the pack rushing at them. An arrow hissed in his ear and touched the nearest wolf, breaking his momentum. "Attack!" The war cry of the Grey Warden brought the attention of all to the imminent danger. Quickly recovering, Daveth seized his bow and Jory advanced towards the wolves by waving his long sword to keep the animals at bay. The elf’s wolf threw himself into the melee and uttered a powerful howl. The other wolves stopped for a moment as if subjugated. The two warriors took the opportunity to immediately attack while a new volley of arrows weakened the ranks of the animals.

Alistair blocked the attack of a wolf with his shield and in the same movement, threw him to the ground and planted his sword in the body of the animal before returning to his defensive position. Wolves were no match for well-trained and armored warriors, but they were numerous and struck in groups. As it happens, two of them had undertaken to attack the warrior on each flank.

Alistair immediately directed his shield toward the wolf to his left without turning his back to the other wolf to whom he pointed his sword, time to step back a few steps. The two beasts jumped at the same time but one of them was seized by the throat by the animal invoked by the elf. The latter tackled its opponent to the ground and slit its throat while Alistair resumed his previous tactic with the second wolf. Soon the ground was littered with the corpses of the animals.

As he was cleaning his weapon, Alistair heard a voice behind his back.  
“He protected you, shemlen.”  
Turning around he saw the elf staring at him with her big almond-shaped eyes, her frowns wrinkling the patterns that adorned her forehead.

“Shemlen ? “

“ “Those who go fast.” That’s how my people call yours.” She said, picking up her arrows. “You should be called “the suspicious”, for you are quick to judge and be frightened by what you do not understand.”  
“Otherwise we have names too, mine is Alistair, remember?”  
"And his is _Halani_ ," said the elf, pointing to the wolf. “And _you_ should remember that, because if the Grey Wardens want to count me in, they’re going to have to accept him too.”

Passing by him without another look, the dalish approached the body of a dying wolf and whispered words to it in an unknown language before finishing it with a stab. Then she gently caressed its fur, whispering what sounded like… A prayer? She was joined by the grey wolf who came to rub his head against her hand. She lightly scratched him behind ears, as one would have done for any pet.

“So, this is what you do, you dalish people? You make friends with magical animals and you talk to wild beasts?”  
“ No…” The elf answered after a while. “Just me.”

Turning to the rest of the group she advised: “We should continue.”

Duncan had always had a… Peculiar sense of casting…. Alistair knew it well. But he had to admit that this time, he overcame any expectations.

(1) See chapter 6 :  [ https://archiveofourown.org/works/26697385 ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26697385)

(2) See chapter 7 :  [ https://archiveofourown.org/works/26919028/chapters/65692480 ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26919028/chapters/65692480)


	2. Chapter 2

"Hold." Alistair raised his hand to stop the group. "Darkspawns in front of us."  
The wolf began to scold.  
“And a whole pack”. Added the dalish.  
“Would you already be a Grey Warden dear lady, to feel the darkspawns before you can see it?" asked Daveth.  
“No, but I know how to follow a trail, and these monsters don’t take great care to cover their tracks. They must have spotted us and I bet a welcoming committee is waiting for us a little further. I advise to act cautiously.” This being said, she started to scrutinize the surroundings.  
“We have already collected our blood vials, we should go back.” Ser Jory said.  
“No way” replied Alistair. “We need to get back the treaties that Duncan talked about.”  
“Would you be afraid Ser Knight”, mocked Daveth. “If you intend to become a Grey Warden, killing darkspawns will be your daily lot.  
“Stop saying I’m afraid.” Replied the knight in a bad mood. “I’d rather just keep my strength for the battle ahead than fall into a pointless skirmish.” And to prove his claims, he advanced, sword in hand, before Alistair hold his arm.  
“Wait……. Step back!”

In one gesture, he tipped the knight backward and placed his shield in front of them at the very moment a ball of fire was springing from the ruins ahead. Gathering his energy in his shield, he gave it additional protection against magic. A horde of darkspawns rushed upon them. At the rear of the group, there arose from the ruins a darkspawn devoid of armor, wearing a sort of headdress decorated with feathers and whose hands let out flames.  
"An emissary!" cried Alistair.  
“What do you mean! What is this? Are darkspawns doing magic now?” Daveth exclaimed.  
“Some yes. Deal with the genlocks, I’ll deal with the emissary.” Said Alistair while rolling on the side to bypass the pack.  
“The genlocks?” asked Jory.  
“The ones that come to us, I guess!” Daveth answered.” Anyway, we have no other choice. Where the hell is the elf?”  
Standing back to back, the two fighters were ready to hold the darkspawns’ attack. When an arrow hissed and hit one of them right in the head. Then another. Raising his head, Daveth saw the elf perched on a ruin, who was showering the darkspawns with projectiles. "Clever girl” he thought with a smile before stabbing the darkspawn within his reach.

Alistair was heading straight for the emissary, shield forward. All the darkspawns who had not taken his companions as their target stood in his way, but he only repelled them with a blow of shield or sword or avoided them with a roll. He had to get rid of the mage before he did too much damage. The latter was already preparing a new attack. Alistair concentrated his energy in his blade…  
Praying to get there in time. An arrow hit the darkspawn on the shoulder and disturbed its concentration, but it quickly recovered. Conjuring the magical energy again, it was about to launch a new fireball when a blast cut off all connection with the veil. Its spell exploded in its face and soon the blade of the Grey Warden came to his chest.  
"Pfew, that was close." Freeing his weapon, Alistair turned to face the darkspawns he had left behind. He realized that most of them were already lying on the ground, arrows in their backs. In the distance, he saw that the elf had again undertaken to support the effort of the fighters left behind. When the last darkspawns were decimated, Ymlaïs went down from her perch and approached Alistair.

  
“So, this is what you do, you Grey Wardens? You have the power to make the magic of the darkspawns disappear when you are no mage yourself?”  
“No…” Alistair replied with a smile. “Only me. Welcome to the club.”

Against her will, Ymlaïs could not repress a smile.

“Recruits, come on! The tower where the treaties are should not be far away.”

**Author's Note:**

> INSPIRATIONS
> 
> The title is obviously inspired by Varric in the “Until we sleep” comics saying that Alistair is “quite the special snowflake : https://i.pinimg.com/originals/24/88/20/24882003548901c8cb7cf8df1392c82b.jpg
> 
> This was such a nice exercise to write those long fighting scenes inspired by the game. Before I tried, I thought I wouldn’t be able to even imagine those kind of scenes. Actually, I had a lot of fun doing it.
> 
> In the beginning, I found it funny to describe the disgust Ymlais feels for the Korcari wilds stating that “Her people would never settle in such a place.“ knowing that it is the land that will be given to the dalish as a “new home” in the end of the game.
> 
> And I just loooooved to put Alistair in a bit of a leading position. I think it suits him well. Not as THE leader but as a squad leader. Just as in Andrastini’s video “We will Rock you” that you have to watch if you want to see some epic grey warden stuff : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mvL3jf82kI.


End file.
